Weekly Newsletter 4-26-2020

Sunday, April 26, 2020
Third Sunday of Easter
Today’s gospel begins with two disciples walking to Emmaus, overcome with sadness, loss, and disappointment. They had hoped Jesus, who was crucified, would be the one to redeem Israel! Yet the risen Christ walks with them and then opens their eyes in the breaking of the bread. Each Sunday our hearts burn within us as the scriptures are proclaimed and Christ appears to us as bread is broken and wine is poured. The story of Emmaus becomes the pattern of our worship each Lord’s day.

Pr. Gail Zackrison

Sermon
Propers

The Road To Emmaus

I’ve always loved this picture of the road to Emmaus (Robert Lund, 1877). My grandmother had given me a bible when I was 10, you know, the old Thomas Nelson of the new (at the time) Revised Standard Version, not the New Revised Standard Version of today that we use in worship. I didn’t use the bible a whole lot, but I loved looking at the few pictures in there, glossy prints of certain events in scripture, and pondering over them, and just imagining stuff. I always thought this picture was in that old bible but I discovered some years ago that it wasn’t. But this is the kind of picture where my imagination gets going. The dust of the road, the robes on the men, the cool (?) air and lush greenery. The men are in deep conversation, and the road, the miles, just kind of melt away. May you find yourselves walking along with them, and listening to the conversation . . .

Pastor

Drive-Up Communion

St. Paul Lutheran Church

May 3, 2020

11:45 – 12:15 PM

You are invited to drive up in your car and receive a communion that has been blessed during the worship service this morning (See it on St. Paul’s Live Streaming via Facebook). A brief prayer service will be included with your packaged communion bread and wine. Please come to the church’s driveway along Central Parkway. STAY IN YOUR CAR. The communion package will be brought to you. Take it home and say the prayers and receive the gift of Christ’s body and blood at your family table.
Note extension of closure dates
Prince of Peace

PoP will remain closed for Sunday services and all other activities through 30 April 2020 including Palm and Easter Sunday. The closure will be reevaluated continually. Bob Mangold

Note extension of closure dates
St. John

St. John’s will remain closed for Sunday Worship Services and any other church events through April 30, 2020. This coincides with the Governor’s “Stay at Home” Order. If there are community organizations using the St. John building for their meetings, we will leave it up to them to cancel their gatherings. We will continue to reevaluate our suspension of worship services and activities at St. John’s in the days and weeks ahead. If you are in need of any assistance during these very difficult times, please don’t hesitate to call a member of your church family. Stay home, stay healthy and wash your hands!

The Wired Word
‘First, Do No Harm’ Is Not a Simple Principle During a Pandemic

Nearly everyone wants a quick fix for this pandemic, either in terms of a cure or a vaccine or both. But against that wish, we hear warnings about the dangers of taking unproven medications or vaccines that haven’t gone through the rigors of scientific testing. Those warnings may remind us of the principle sometimes applied in the medical field that says, “First, do no harm.”

Not many of us are in a position to comment authoritatively about the medical applications of that statement, but this is a good time to consider how “First, do no harm” is a de facto posture of the religious and spiritual life — not the only posture, to be sure, but a starting place. So that will be the topic of our next class.